______________________________________________________________ Wilwood Brakes Index
Wilwood Engineering offers an extensive line of high performance disc brake calipers for a wide range of applications. Determining the suitability of a caliper for a specific need is crucial to the overall performance of the brake system. This overview will help in the selection process by familiarizing you with general design characteristics of our calipers. Racing disc brake calipers are essentially sophisticated hydraulic clamps, designed to house a specific brake pad in a package that is lightweight, rigid and resists heat over prolonged high temperature brake use. Wilwood addresses these issues in every caliper model through material selection and design. All Wilwood caliper housings are constructed of specific aluminum alloys, either cast or billet, to achieve maximum rigidity with minimum weight. Heat transfer from the brake pad to the fluid, housing, and seal is minimized by manufacturing pistons from stainless steel, a material known for its resistance to thermal conductivity. The piston’s heat path is further reduced by utilizing a thin wall deep cup design; the less heat transferred through the piston, the cooler the caliper operates. High temperature caliper seals are designed to control piston retraction resulting in a firmer, more responsive pedal. Other innovative features designed into our calipers are pad retainers to facilitate ease of pad change, reinforced pad wear surfaces, bridge bolts to enhance caliper stiffness, differential piston bore configurations to eliminate pad taper, and insulated stainless steel heat shields to retard heat absorption into the caliper body. Stiffening ribs are incorporated into some models to increase rigidity. Most calipers are tapped with 1/8-27 NPT fluid inlets, and all external fluid crossover tubes are protected by a high temperature RTV dampening material. Wilwood Engineering manufactures all calipers with a protective black finish to resist corrosion and accelerate heat dissipation. With these features in mind, refer to the following pages for caliper applications and specifications.
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